groovygamers.com

Sylvia had given everyone the time and location for their first meeting with Jack Donaldson.  She'd done some internet homework to verify his identity after Matt had let home in seach of his father, since Matt had been her source of knowledge for all things paranormal.

The address turned out to be the Wayne House, a renovated mansion on the lake in the southern part of the city.  Originally the home of generations of the Wayne family it hasn't had regular residents since it was renovated a few years ago.

Dave gives rides to anyone that needed them.

Donaldson is not an overly tall man.  He's fit looking, dark hair and brown eyes.  He's polite and friendly, and there is almost no impression of him being remotely dangerous.

OOC: Imagine Josh Hartnett (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001326/)

Once everyone has arrived he takes you from the front room to a large room with mats on the floor and assorted safety equipment.

"For those of you who haven't heard of me, which I'm guessing is everyone, my name is Jack Donaldson.  You guys can all call me Jack, since I'm gonna call you by your first names it seems only fair.  To start, I'd like to ask who here doesn't know anything about fighting or has never been in a fight.  When I say been in a fight, I mean one where you threw punches or were hit by someone else."

After Sarah had told Megan about the meeting with Jack the night before, the blond teen had told her mom she was going to be going to Sylvia’s to study together for a class they had together and work on some cheerleading stuff.  She had taken her Velocity costume with her in her gym bag when her mom had driven her over and dropped her off.  Changing into her costume at Sylvia’s, she was a bit bummed it still had the burn marks on it from Spark’s attack.  When Dave was giving everyone who wanted one a ride, Megan ran over there on her own, partially to get out and running and partially to get loosened up some.

She waited for everyone else to arrive and had gone in with them.  Making her way into the front room with everyone else, she wondered who’s old house this was as they met Jack Donaldson.  He did not seem like some bad-ass combat instructor, but Megan figured she did not seem like she could do okay in a fight either.  She was not sure about him calling her by her first name though.  When he asked what they knew about fighting or who had been in a fight, she raised her hand a bit.  “Well, I have been in more fights than I really would like already, but I wouldn’t say I know a thing about fighting.”

When he found out they would have met at the Wayne house, Colin made sure to pack his camera to sneak a couple
pictures of the park and the front.

He's wearing a black tracksuit that is warm and comfortable, it doesn't hamper him one bit, but he also notices it makes him look even thinner than he already is. He sure doesn't look anything to worry about, unlike Kel. To be fair, neither does Jack. Looks could be deceiving.

Anyway, I looked for this, and I'm here to learn, he thinks, raising his hand.

Sammy met up with the others at Sylvia's house and caught a ride with Dave.  Not sure what to expect, she had donned a pair of sweat pants and a purple Northwestern University tee shirt.  Her brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, revealing rather nice facial features normally concealed by a mass of hair.


Sammy started to raise her hand, then lowered it, then raised it again, but offered no explanation.  She was pretty sure he wasn't talking about dirty cat-fighting, the kind of stuff that happened between her and her sisters or what happened when some outsider dared to attack one of the three girls.

Kel arrives in his traditional gear, combat boots, fatigues, and his leather jacket with the patches removed though.  The other odd thing is his hair is neatly tied back in a topknot, so that as opposed to freely falling down his shoulders like normal it rests in a tight oblong bun across the back of his head.  He shakes Jack's hand when they meet and says, "Kel is fine by me, Jack."

Sylvia and Jack have already met, so while she's happy enough to meet him again, she's not that excited by it.  Only the fleeting word "donor" runs through her head--with any luck, not visibly--and she hands him the home-cooked whatever Mitzi packed into disposable storage containers for him.  "The root vegetable stew's not bad, and the Indian spinach and cheese is my favorite.  You're old," she deadpans.  "We thought you'd like the fiber."

Donnie snickers at Sylvia's comment. His smile fades as he rubs his face and the nearly faded bruises there.

"I got hit in the face with a baseball bat. Then I ran and Samantha saved my ass, with a little help."


He stands in a loose blue sweatsuit that looks like it has never been worn before. Which, of course, is the case. It has sat in his dresser drawer since last Christmas.

Jack chuckles.  "Yeah, you're a riot kid.  Just like Carolyn."

When Donnie mentions his run in with a ball bat Jack nods, "At least you know you can take a hit."

Jack moves towards the middle of the room.  "There are two things I want you to be able to do.  Fall down, and get hurt."  He pauses for a moment to let that sink in.  "Falling down is a skill, or I should say falling down to minimize injury.  Getting hurt is easy, but it's the ability to keep going when you're hurt that's important.  So, the first couple of sessions you're going to be sore and bruised.  If you plan on concealing your identity from the world at large you need to learn to walk around sore and not look it.  Mysterious injuries draw attention, so for now tell people you got them in this class.  Eventually you'll have to find another excuse, so take up raquet ball or basketball or something where getting hurt is common."

Jack spends the next several minutes going over safety and equipment, and then demonstrating a number of falling techniques.  Donnie is the subject he uses to demonstrate.  After that he goes over some basic defense techniques and lets everyone practice on each other for about half an hour.

During a break Jack makes sure everyone drinks water, "I'm available for one on one sessions if you think you want or need it.  I'm also here to help out as much as I can, so don't hesitate to call me."  He gives everyone a business card.  They are for a variety of bookshops and music stores in the area, on the back of each is his cell number.  "Day or night, don't hesitate to call if you feel you're in over your head and need help.  also, you guys are welcome here anytime.  There is plenty of space if you need to rest or whatever.  Anyone have any questions they want me to answer, I know this is a bit awkward for you guys me being a stranger and all but try to put yourself in my place for a second.  It's wierd for me too."

During the break, after finishing her water, Megan thought about what Jack had said about mysterious injuries and the like.  So far things had not been too hard, other than the getting hurt part, not something she particularly liked.  Like Sarah, Sylvia and Kel, she had some gymnastics experience that helped with knowing how to fall. 

“Well, three of us have an activity we can blame for injuries, though I don’t think it would help for electrical burns.”  She nodded down towards the burn on the midsection of her costume from Spark’s last attack.  “But any suggestions on how to even get out and be a superhero, without telling your parents that is?  So far my mom has pretty much been thinking that the times I was sneaking out over the last month I had been going to have sex with my boyfriend.”

Sylvia lets her gaze drift around the restored woodwork and 1930s-style furniture.  She's gotten the knack from Carolyn of spotting the spots where modern lumber meets the twisty, detailed hand craftsmanship of yesteryear.  "What is this place anyway?  When you said you were staying somewhere, I was imagining one of those seedy men-only hotels from the movies.  This is posh."

Old? He can't be a day over thirty. Is that what she means?


Colin has had some training on how to fall from his bike without getting too hurt, so it's not totally new to him. What Jack is teaching them though, goes far beyond that. He has a way of making things seem really easy when he does them, while they're quite difficult, and hurtful, when one tries for himself.
Colin frequently stops for a moment to close his eyes, trying to teach his body the movements he remembers and sees very clearly in his mind. He noticed his instincts wouldn't always make him do the right thing.


Colin thinks about it for a while, and then frowns and takes a decision. He pairs himself up with Kel, and stands in front of him with his guard raised like Jack just taught them.

"Kel, hit me, please. Just once, don't hold back. I need to know."


"We would have needed a place like this a couple nights ago." Colin smiles. "Well it's only fair that you get to ask questions back, if you feel like it, Jack. I'd like to know how do you know so much about fighting crime and concealing identities. If you don't mind telling, that is."

"Colin, are you nuts?"  Sylvia's seen Kel throwing many a punch since she's met him.  As tough as he was at the beginning of summer, he's downright scary now.  "Kel, don't do it.  Donnie, you do it.  Or I'll do it.  Or--"  She's flustered, trying to avert a tragedy.  "--Sarah, you do it."

While drinking the profferred water, Donnie chokes and starts coughing until Sylvia pounds him on the back. He is blushing madly and not looking at either of the cheerleaders

"Think Clean Thoughts, Chum.."

He nods vigorously at Sylvia's declaration.

"Sometimes you have to be downright creative to explain some injuries.  Which reminds me, you're going to be lying to people all the time.  It's something you'll need to get used to.  Depending on how your life as a super hero goes, everyone that knows your secret is potentially at risk.  On the other hand, circumstances might make it something you can't avoid.  If you want to keep doing it and not tell your folks, then that goes back to lying.  You may end up getting into trouble with your folks over it.  Giving them some lame story about where you've been and what you've been doing, spending plenty of time grounded and having your folks think you're irresponsible and stupid.  I guess it all depends on how you think your folks will take the news and how important your relationship with them is."


"This is the Wayne family home.  The Waynes lived here until the last of the Wayne's, Bruce, moved to Port Angeles back in the 60's.  The heir to the Wayne fortune had the house restored a few years back.  My granddaughter is friends with the owner and he said I could use the house while I was here."


"Well, I've been a super hero, and a secret agent, and on the run from the cops and the government and undercover as an ultra-terrorist and just about everything in between.  I have a lot of practice at this you might say.  As Sylvia pointed out, I'm kinda old.  I was born in 1925.  Joined the Army in 1942 when I was 17, Lied about my age, and took part in the Able-Able project which was basically the Super Soldier project."


"Colin."  Jack interrupts, "Why did you want Kel to hit you?"

"You have a granddaughter?"  Sylvia grapples with that.  "How old does she look?"

Megan frowned a bit as she listened to the answer.  So far that was pretty much what she had been doing, and seemed like she was going to continue to have to do.  She was not to sure she was ready to tell her mom, let alone her dad.  But the last thing she wanted was to be grounded for any length of time or make them think she was totally irresponsible.  Though, as long as she kept up with her homework and had good grades, that should keep some of the pressure off her from her mom. 


When she heard Sylva ask about the house and then Jack’s answer, she stopped for a moment, and thought about her recent conversation with Brian after the Constitutional Debate Team meeting and then about the night her mom had first mentioned knowing she was sneaking out at night.  The fact that Jack had mentioned having a granddaughter was somewhat overlooked as she asked.  “The owner, that wouldn’t happen to be Paul Patillio would it?”

"You have a granddaughter?"  Sylvia grapples with that.  "How old does she look?"
[/quote]

"She's in her thirties I guess.  she might be forty."  He furrows his brow in an attempt to recall some crucial detail that might verify the answer for him.


"Yep.  Heir to the Wayne fortune."

"Isn't that kind of weird?"  She pauses.  "Hey, that means you were ma--"  And then her mouth shuts with a click, and she gives him a sheepish look as if to apologize for the question she's going to ask anyway.  "Is your wife still, uh, with you?"

Sarah has a pretty good idea why Colin was asking for a punch.  She adds her own battle experience to the initial question.  "When I was eight this girl Mandy Moore pushed me off the top of a slide and I punched her in the arm when she got down to the bottom... but that's about it."

Megan nodded as Jack confirmed that Paul was the heir to the Wayne fortune.  It made a lot more sense why he was also head of the Wayne Foundation then.  She wondered if her mom knew, but figured that she very likely did.  The blond girl (brunette at the moment thanks to the wig) listened as Sylvia continued to pepper him with questions, though she did agree, it must be somewhat odd to have a granddaughter that looked older than you did. 

Looking over at Sarah and Sammy, she remembered what she had talked with a bit bout last night on the phone with Sarah.  Moving over towards the other girl, she took her arm and pulled her towards one side of the room, motioning for Sammy to come and join them.  She then looked over towards Sylvia and called out.  “Hey Sylvia, can you spare a sec to come over here?”

Sylvia, who was toweling off over chit-chat with Donnie about the architecture, nods and goes over.  She thinks she knows what this is about.  "I swear I'll pump it harder next time we do Sexyback."  Her stunts are good; her dancing's still a little mechanical; but now she has someone to pump for, which makes all the difference.

Megan looks at Sylvia a second and the laughs.  “Who cares about that right now, this is really important.”  She says, dropping the Velocity voice as she pulls Sylvia over into a huddle as Sammy joins them.  “So, does everyone have dates for Homecoming yet?  If so, we should all go out this weekend to do some dress shopping.  But you each need to talk to your parents about what sort of price range you can be looking at, will help us focus what to look at.”  She says in a lower voice to keep the boys from overhearing.

"My mom's making my dress."  Sylvia's mother dresses her head to toe, which explains the patchwork tier skirts and hand-quilted coats.  Cheerleading is her only opportunity to look normal, which is perhaps why she's stayed with it.  "And I've got a date."  She glances back at Donnie, can't help it.

Megan looks at Sylvia a moment, but decides not to challenge her mother’s ability to make a dress.  She notices the other girl’s glance back at Donnie, but does not comment on that either.  “Well, you could at least go with us and see what things you like to maybe make suggestions?  And even if she is making your dress, is she making your shoes?”

Sylvia's afraid for a second that Mitzi might indeed be making her shoes--she's been doing odd things with felted knitting lately--but like so much of adolescence, it's beyond her control.  "I wouldn't mind coming along."  She's not so much into the clothes-shopping thing, but she's got questions, goofy teenage-girl questions about goofy teenage boys, and no one to ask.  Maybe the other girls will have some insight into the situation.

"Ah.  I was never married.  We met during the war, in China.  She was, well she was sort of a super hero for the time.  I never actually met my daughter, she died before I knew she was out there.  I met my granddaughter when she was about your age I guess.  In high school anyway.  She's married now and has kids.  Her oldest is eleven I think.  The mother of my child died a few years back.  I found out about my daughter and granddaughter at the same time, that was wierd."

"At the funeral?" Sylvia guesses, with dread.

During the girl's huddle:


“Great.”  Megan said with a smile.  She then turned to Sarah and Sammy, the thought just dawning on her that all the other girl’s here had first names starting with an “s”.   Pushing the thought of the strange coincidence from her head, she asked.  “So, you two up for a day of shopping?  What would be better?  Saturday, or Sunday?  I’m thinking Michigan Avenue is the place to go for this.”

"No.  I was on the trail of a missing gizmo and bumped into this teenage girl that was somehow involved.  Turned out she was the granddaughter, which I learned when I was at her place and met her grandmother, which was the woman I'd knonw in China.  Penny's mom had died years before, the family came to the US after that.  Just another example of convergence of improbability."

Sylvia bites down hard on her blurt reflex--something about how Jack's not really the girl's grandfather but just kind of a donor.  "So it's not really weird at all, is it?  I mean, you didn't have to watch your own kid grow up and get wrinkly.  That's good, I guess."

"Either day, I guess.  I don't have any big weekend plans other than looking for a halloween costume.  I'll find out how much I can spend."  A cunning plan that cannot fail occurs to Sammy, and she turns to Sylvia.  "Has your mom started to make the dress yet?  Because if she hasn't, maybe you could find a pattern you like and ask her to make that for you.   We could look at dresses in the store and find something you want to copy."

Megan smiles as Sammy agrees to go along and mentions Halloween costumes.  “Cool, I already have a Halloween costume, picked it up when I got the parts for my Velocity costume, but we can add that to the shopping as well.  I actually have like two other Halloween costumes I picked up, as I was not completely sure what I wanted at the time if anyone wanted to take a look to see if they liked one of them.  Speaking of costumes, did you still want help working on one Sarah?  We can included that as well, for any of you, though the costume you got already is pretty cool Sammy.”

Sylvia grimaces and gives Sammy the explanation Carolyn gave her once upon a time.  "You know how every mom has her thing, that thing she does because she thinks it's part of being a good mom?  Some moms cook, some moms do homework with you, some moms put you in ballet lessons?  My mom sews for Ginny and me.  Her mom put her through charm school and had everything made for her so she'd look like a fashion plate, then put her through beauty contests.  So Mom doesn't want Ginny and me looking like we were ordered from Sears.  Creativity.  Individuality.  It's her thing."

Colin can't help but feel he has made the right choice telling them everything. That is not something he could have stood for long.


Granddaughter??!!! No, I've surely misheard.


Colin goggles at him. He is good at math.
"So you are 82?!! Wow. That means that you... apparently age one year every five years."
He thinks about it for a moment.
"Is it tough? I mean, the world going so fast?"



Colin looks down, as if they caught him stealing biscuits.

"I've already seen what he can do. It's not like I asked him to shoot me, just a single punch. He hasn't killed anyone with a punch. I'm... I... I asked for self defense lessons because I didn't want to be scared anymore. I didn't want to be the dead weight, that has to be defended all the time. Everyone of them has a way to protect himself or herself but me. I'm no superhero, I have no superpowers, I just want to be ready, because things have a way to happen around me. And I'll never be ready if I'm always so scared."

"I just wanted to see if I could roll with it to make it hurt less. I know it will hurt, but I bet not as much as I'm afraid it will. And even if it does, it's better to be afraid of something I know than of something I don't know. Isn't that what you said to Donnie? That at least now he knows he could take it?"

Megan gave Sylvia a sympathetic smile at her explanation of why her mother liked to sew her and her sister’s clothes.  She hoped that Sylvia’s mom, well, the mom that liked to sew, would not be to creative in making Sylvia’s dress, or the other girl might get a few snide comments about it.  “Well, guess finding something to try to copy is out, but you could at least try, maybe just the general shape of a dress?”  She shrugged. 

“Oh, and the other thing we might want to do soon, is get a block of time in the afternoon the day of Homecoming to go to the salon to get our hair done, manicures and, if wearing open shoes, pedicures.  That will be my treat.  Your mom wouldn’t keep you from that would she?”  Megan directed the last question to Sylvia.

Sylvia shrugs and shakes her head.  "I don't think so."  Mitzi's not a difficult mother.  She's just a woman who wants to give her children all the warmth and domesticity she didn't have, growing up--one bag lunch at a time.

"Well, I've tried to stay close to Penny and her family.  I came from a big family, that's how we did it back then.  I watched all of them get old and die.  I've seen friends and lovers age and pass.  It gives you a different perspective on a lot of things."



"Well, I've learned to adapt to the world some.  It's been an adventure."



"You managed to roll selflessness and machismo into one answer.  That's an impressive feat for a guy your age."  Jack looks around at everyone for a moment before continuing.  "The fact that you know you're scared and are willing to face that fear, and even take a shot from someone you know can hurt you is all the proof you need that you can take it.  Besides, I already knew you could take a hit.  I can see it in your eyes.  Donnie is the one I wasn't sure about."

Sammy looks at Sylvia sympathetically.  "That's why I thought maybe a pattern, or even a couple of patterns, would work.  Maybe if she thought you were being a little creative yourself, she'd bend a little?  We could take pictures in the store of things that look good on you.  Then you show them to her, and say you like the sleeves on this one and the skirt on that one, but you couldn't find a dress anywhere that had everything you liked, so could she maybe make one for you, custom order?  We could even go to a fabric store and get some samples of stuff you like, and let her choose one of them."  She shrugs her shoulders.  "It's worth a shot."

She doesn't say anything about Jack's age, but she thinks to herself He can't really be that old.  He's hot!

Sylvia nods, shrugs.  "I could do that.  It's her thing, though," she repeats, which is about as eloquent as she can be about it without going into the mushiness of "But she's my mommy, and I don't want to hurt her feelings."  Raised to be Carolyn's daughter, Sylvia can put on a butch facade when she wants.

“Okay then, if everyone is open for it, Sunday it is.  Give us plenty of time, I’ll be sure to have my homework done Saturday morning or afternoon.  Maybe we should get back before Jack starts yelling or something.  Don’t forget, set aside time for the afternoon of Homecoming and let me know and I’ll schedule the appointments at the salon.”  She said with a grin as the little huddle broke. 

Megan moved back over where Jack was talking with Colin and the others and just waited to see if there was going to be more for tonight or not. 

There's a question that is burning in Colin's throat, but he can't bring himself to ask it. All he does is looking at Jack, with eyes full of sympathy and deep admiration.


Colin's eyebrows jump up in surprise. He looks into Jack's eyes, then at his scrawny arms and legs, then back at Jack. He'd really like to believe him.


This somewhat breaks the enchantment though.

"What?" he frowns.
"Donnie got into that incident because he helped me, and he didn't have to. And even after they tried to crack his head open, he has continued to help me and to work so it wouldn't happen again. He's one of the bravest guys I know, and you'd better stay tuned, because some day he'll show everyone what he's really worth." he blurts out, without even thinking.

Kel doesn't even begin to move his arm when Colin asks for the hit, and hes' quite thankful to see Jack ask Colin for an explanation rather than Kel having to bother to explain that he's not going to hit someone just because they ask.  It seemed downright silly to Kel.  Kel remains silent, watching waiting, he wants to wait for everyone to ask their questions before he talks to Jack about what life as a super-soldier is like, all these thoughts on what his life might be like.  There's no reason as far as he could tell for his own aging to slow, but he has to know what it's like, just in case.  He sighs, standing there still and waiting.

Sammy looks up from tying her shoes and says with conviciton, "Donnie will be fine.  He got hit pretty hard by something the other day, but he didn't give up hope.  He's also scared by some of what's been happening to him and around him, and he keeps going anyhow.  He'll be fine."  She stands and straightens up.  "Me, I'm going to work real hard on not getting hit at all."

Megan moved back over to where everyone was talking to hear Colin get a bit upset about what Jack had said about Donnie.  She didn’t really say anything at first as Sammy spoke up about how brave Donnie was as well as she really did not know Donnie all that well.  But when Sammy mentioned not getting hit she did.  “Yeah, not getting hit, that is what I have tried to do for the most part, use my speed to keep from being hit.  Has worked, for the most part, but Spark taught me the other day that it is not quite as easy as you hope it would be.”

Sammy nods.  "I didn't say I never expected to be hit.  I just want to learn how to be smart about it, to avoid as much damage as I can.  Nobody needs to go looking for trouble; it can find you good enough all by itself."

"Someday, I have the feeling you'll be able to look into the eyes of another person and see into their soul.  When that day happens, you'll understand what I meant.  I think it's admirable that you came to his defense the way you did, even though you really don't know what I meant.  I have the feeling that you're going to be coming to a lot of people's defense in your life.  Then, one day, you'll realize that isn't always the best thing to do."

Jack turns his attention away from Colin back to the others, "As for not getting hit, always a good plan.  I just want to make sure that you can deal with it when you do get hit."

Donnie sits crosslegged as all the teenagers and the old/young supersoldier dude talked. He frowned at the comment about questioing Donnie's ability to take a hit, but didn't say anything. When Colin leaped to his defense, the blonde boy felt a surge of emotion; a mixture of admiration, fear, and friendship. Feeling that tenuous line that connects himself to Pip, just beyond the edge of known reality, he speaks forcefully. Colin is to be protected as you protect me. He is my brother.Pip responds silently with a wave of determination and affection.

He reviews the Golden Rule spell in his head and ponders how to improve upon it. Thinking of Colin, he says to himself They will never touch him again.

The moment the words fell out of Jack's mouth, Sylvia gave him a hard, but sage, look.  She had a feeling she could only make the situation worse by speaking up, so she kept quiet and tried to make sure the ringing strains of Connie Francis's "Stand By Your Man" were playing only in her head.

Colin's shoulders fall. It's like a shadow passing over him.
Not again. I didn't think about it for a couple days and everything was so fine.

"I'm sorry if that came off harsh, especially if it wasn't what you meant. You can look into people's souls? And you get 'feelings' about what's gonna happen?"

He looks tired. Not physically though. Sometimes he just feels like a rat in a giant cage, in a giant labyrinth actually. And everyone can look at him from above, and say "No, you stupid rat. That's clearly the wrong way. You'll just suffer a lot this way. Oh, and don't forget there's a snake in the maze too, and he's hungry. Can't you hear him hiss? But don't obsess about it, little rat, or you won't see it coming, and he'll surely devour you. Oh, look another fork. Wanna bet he'll the the wrong door this time too?"

Colin shakes his head to make the picture go away, but that feeling to be in a trap remains.

"Don't sweat it.  and, no.  Note really.  I can look into the eyes of someone and tell a lot about them.  It's probably just experience.  they say the eyes are the window to the soul, so maybe it's something I don't understand.  Sometimes though, there are eyes that don't tell me anything."  Jack turns to look at Donnie, "Like the perfect poker face.  They look back at you and give you no clues about the person they belong to."  Jack looks at his own hands for a moment, then looks back at Colin.  "I'm not always right, but I have good instincts and I've learned to trust them.  I have the advantage of lots of experience."

Donnie looks thoughtful. "I am trying to decide if that was a general statement or a compliment towards me, Mr. Jack."

"Take your time.  I'm in no hurry."  Jack says with a smile.

"Yeah, I bet you have."
Colin idly wonders if it's gonna take him a world war and half a century too to have instincts he can trust.

He hates when he feels like this. He bets a punch from Kel would have been better.

He goes back to practicing his falls, trying to keep himself busy, body and mind.
What were the girls plotting? To your left. Are you sure you remember your world history well enough? Mmm, I'll read it again when I get home. And now on your back. Relax you're on a mat. I guess Sarah hasn't decided yet about the costume. Got any idea?

When Kel gets the chance to talk to Jack relatively alone he walks up and says, "Hey Jack, I got a question about umm, well my powers."  He then shrugs and continues on, "From the looks of it, and my family history, I am some sort of natural super-soldier.  And just, I'm worried about the life that it might lead to.  I mean from the sound of it, I might end up standing still while everyone else I know grows old and dies..."  He trails off hoping he hasn't hit a sore spot with the older man.

"It can be rough sometimes.  I know the reason I age so slowly has to do with the formulae that made me what I am.  If you've inherited some of the powers it might not be that way.  I know a guy, my granddaughter's husband.  He's a doctor that specializes in paranormal stuff.  If you ever want to get a check up, just to see what he can tell you, I'm sure I could set something up."

"Even if you live a long time, you eventually find an equilibrium of sorts.  I used to move around alot and not have many friends.  then I sort of realized I was missing out on life so I went back to making friends and staying in touch.  You'll find you pace."

Kel nods slowly trying to come to terms with what was said, he then says, "Thanks, I'd really like to know what's going on inside me so getting in touch with that doctor would well...be really helpful."  He then looks at the older man and asks, "You said, you're up for one on one stuff right?  'Cause the way I see it, if I'm naturally a good fighter there's no reason I shouldn't be working hard to be even better, right?"

"Yeah.  It'll give me a chance to teach you some of the advanced stuff so you can help me teach the others."  Jack and Kel make some plans for additional sessions and spend some time sparring as the others are packing up to go and for a few minutes after they've headed home.

Jack is encouraging of Kel and his skill, but Kel can tell that Jack is a far better fighter then he seems.  They spend several minutes going at it, with Jack offering advice on technique and mind set.  Eventually they move into several sets at "Combat Speed" which is to say they go at it without pauses and at the same break neck pace a real fight would go.

Aftre the full speed combat time, Kel is huffing and puffing slightly, he then grasps for a water and says, "Damn...where'd you learn to fight like this?"  He has been watching the man as best he could, and from what he could tell there's no established form to it at all while Kel uses more of a standard stream-lined karate with a more rough approach better-suited for street fighting than actual combat, he seems to shift between things never drawing from any particular established form.  He then thinks out loud, "It's amazing..."

Jack smiles, "I've had a lot of practice.  You'll just sort of pick up stuff.  It'll come naturally to you.  You might even be able to pick it up from reading about the techniques and then practicing the moves.  I suggest you get a practice dummy for the garage and pick up some books.  Even watching martial arts movies and then practicing those moves will help you."

Kel's eyebrows prick up in surprise, "Really?  I always thought alot of that stuff was just stage moves not really...well real.  But just trying to imitate it, you think that would help?"  He looks down at his own hands and says, "This is just ridiculous."  He sits down on a nearby chair and shakes his head.

"It might not be real martial arts, although some of the older stuff is.  We sort of have something like photographic reflexes.  We can learn dance steps and martial arts, anything that involves movement and muscle very easily.  I'm told that we can also pass on some of that genetically.  That might be why you're as good a fighter as you are with as little training as you've had.  You might have picked up stuff from your father and grandfather."

Kel nods and then says, "That's kind of weird..."  He then looks up at Jack and says, "So, I really am just naturally pre-disposed to fight?  And the more I learn about it, the better I'll probably end up being?"

"Yep.  The only thing you have to do is learn to control your emotions, pretty crucial to being a good fighter.  Think of it this way, you're a natural athelete now.  Running, sports, anything athletic you'll probably be good at.  Get on the football team and you might be able to land a scholarship and get a good education to boot."

Kel laughs, "Yea...well, actually I'm on the Cheerleading squad."  He laughs again and continues, "I got on it originally to support Sylvia and not leave her alone with a bunch of annoying gals, but ya know, I also now have my hands constantly all over them."

"Well, maybe next year."  Jack says with a smile.